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Franciscan Mission Outreach Blog:

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Fr. Herald's New Missionary Assignment

Many of you know that we concluded our missionary presence in South Sudan shortly after the referendum on independence in January of this year. For the past six months I have been residing at St. Crispin Friary in the Bronx and helping at the St. Anthony Shelter for Renewal. A few weeks ago I received final word on a new assignment that begins this month, that of being a missionary preaching friar. I will continue to be based at St. Crispin’s , but will be able to travel regularly to mission sites in developing countries, especially where our friars have an existing relationship of collaboration with local friends. This includes visits to places where I have served previously in Honduras and Africa, which makes me very happy. The purpose of these journeys is to encourage the local church through efforts of evangelization and formation, and when possible to offer assistance to those in need. I will also do some limited preaching in the United States, especially for mission-related purposes.

This new assignment is supported by Franciscan Mission Outreach, a non-profit organization that helps to sponsor missionary endeavors of the Friars of the Renewal. Donations made to Franciscan Mission Outreach will assist in providing for the international missionary efforts I will undertake, as well as for the life and ministries of the CFRs. I will be sharing experiences from this new assignment on the Franciscan Mission Outreach Blog at: http://www.franciscanmissionoutreach.blogspot.com/. Please continue to follow us there.

My first missionary journey of this new assignment will be to head back to Africa in mid-September for a seven-week trip to four countries on the eastern side of the continent. I will have Maynor Ballesteros and Dr. William Stallings of Missioners of Christ as missionary companions. In Kenya planned activities include a visit to the Somali refugee camp in Dadaab, a week of faith formation for older students at Our Lady of Grace School in Kisumu, and combining with the Missionaries of Charity for youth evangelization in Nairobi. It will be a great joy and a privilege to visit the new Republic of South Sudan, catch up with lay missionary Dennis Kiyimba and reconnect with the missionary youth and other friends in the Diocese of Torit, especially now as Bishop Akio Johnson Mutek has returned from successful medical treatment abroad. The team will be making a brief stop in Uganda to spend a few days at Emmaus Center for Catholic Evangelization and Discipleship and see Dennis' wife Agnes, due with their first child in November. From there I will meet up with Fr. Donald Haggerty of New York, working in priestly formation in Addis Ababa, to explore future possibilities for outreach in Ethiopia.

In November I will travel to Honduras to assist Missioners of Christ in preparing a group of older Honduran youth to embark on a week of evangelization, and then accompany the youth into the mountains where they will be sharing their faith and inviting the villagers to participate more fully in the life of their local parish. I will also have the chance to see good friends like the young men and staff at Jesus of Nazareth Farm. Being in Central America will also afford the opportunity to make a short trip to neighboring Guatemala to see some friends and missionary contacts in Guatemala City, Jalapa and Esquipulas. Future plans include journeys to Haiti (in January) other African and Latin American countries and perhaps Asia. As my schedule permits, I will be doing limited mission-related preaching in the US.

When not on the road, and for a total of at least 12 weeks a year, I will be at St. Crispin Friary in the Bronx, participating in the life there as a member of the local fraternity, and helping out as I’m able at the St. Anthony Shelter for Renewal and in the friary’s other activities. I plan to do a little local preaching as well, and do some spiritual formation with the YOUTH 2OOO New York team, joining them for retreats in the metropolitan area when our schedules coincide.

Great Short Video about the New Republic of South Sudan

I thought you might like to see this mini-documentary produced by my Polish filmmaker friends whose visit to the Diocese of Torit I helped to coordinate in the fall of 2009. It really gives you a sense of how momentous the reality of independence is for the Southern Sudanese. It also highlights the role of faith, prayer and the Church in this process.

I also wanted to give you a little advance notice that after six months of living at St. Crispin Friary in the Bronx and helping at St. Anthony Shelter for Renewal, I've received a new assignment as a "missionary preaching friar," which will enable me to travel to mission areas (especially where our friars already have a relationship with people in that location) and to encourage missionary service. The assignment will begin on September 1st. More information to come...

It's Official - South Sudan to Become an Independent Nation!

Icon of Our Lady of Sudan by Sallie Thayer
(http://salliesart.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-lady-of-sudan.html).

Today is the feast of St. Bakhita of Sudan, and it seems to be a fitting occasion to post what may be the concluding entry for this blog. In God's providence, yesterday - February 7th - the official results of the referendum on the independence of Sudan were formally announced. The final tabulation listed 98.83% voting for separation and 1.17% in favor of unity. Sudanese President Omar al Bashir has been quoted as saying that he will accept the results and respect the decision of the people of South Sudan to separate and form their own nation. The United States has expressed its intention to recognize South Sudan as an independent sovereign state in July on the date specified for the inauguration of the new country.

We can only give thanks and praise to God for the amazing way in which these historic events have unfolded, and will of course continue to accompany this new nation and it's beloved people in prayer.

St. Bakhita, pray for us!
Our Lady of Sudan, pray for us!

Farewell Photos

Priests of the Diocese of Torit at the farewell gathering in Sudan.

The evening before Fr. Sylvester and I left Sudan, Vicar General Fr. Celestino Murras hosted a farewell gathering for us on behalf of the diocese at which local priests and the St. Daniel Comboni Missionary Youth participated. It was a bittersweet occasion for us, one mixed gratitude and sadness. The youth came for Mass early the next morning and insisted on staying till we left for the airstrip. To our surprise the missionary flight arrived two hours ahead of schedule and we had to say a rushed, tearful goodbye to the young people and race to the airstrip to catch the plane.

St. Daniel Comboni Missionary Youth with Fr. Sylvester and me.

While in Kenya, before departing the continent of Africa, my good friends of Communion and Liberation in Nairobi hosted a farewell celebration at St. Joseph Parish in Kahawa Sukari on the outskirts of the city after the 11:00 am Mass at which I presided and preached. As always there was lots of singing and laughter, including the humorous action song led by Chrispine and the children below. Porzia is playing the guitar in the background.

A warm CL goodbye in Nairobi.

I was also grateful for the opportunity to make a final trip to Kisumu to say goodbye the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who have so graciously welcomed me for times of rest and prayer at St. Catherine's Home.

Left to right: Sr. Mae, Sr Teresa Marie, Fr. Herald, Sr. Patricia, Sr. Mary Thanh.

A Parting Gift of Water... Almost!

One of the last projects Fr. Sylvester and I tackled in Sudan was to arrange a water connection to the Mercy House compound. The entire time we've been there we've hauled water pumped from wells for both drinking and bathing. But a number of weeks ago, someone alerted us to the fact that a water line from the small town water system passed within a few blocks of Mercy House. It took a lot of phone calls (Sebastian at the town public works office was extremely helpful)and the assistance of a variety of people with different skills and abilities (plumbers, electricians, welders), and in the end a submersible pump ordered and delivered from Nairobi and installed by a technician based in Juba.

In the end, our in-ground cistern was being filled with water from the large town tank (top photo), which was itself filled with treated water from the Kinati river. And the submersible pump is primed and ready to move the water from the cistern to our above-ground tank (bottom photo). The only thing left to be done (once the skilled laborers return to Torit after the referendum) is to seal the connection from the tank to the pipe that feeds the water system of the house. Then Mercy House will have indoor running water for the next group of religious or missionaries who will reside there.

Our Last Mass in Helio

Yesterday morning we celebrated our last Mass in Helio, the small community about 15 minutes outside of Torit heading toward Katire. It was beautiful, but also a little sad for us. It's been wonderful to see this community become more and more alive each Sunday in the past three months we've been visiting regularly.

Right after Mass the results from local polling centers were announced. It's beyond a landslide; it's a total blowout. Again there was 99%+ turnout of registered voters, 99%+ of whom voted for secession.

Both on the way to and from Helio we encountered vehicles that were part of a UN caravan bringing IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), who had been refugess in the north since wartime, to resettle them in the south. They will be temporarily sheltered at a UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) reintegration base just outside Torit, where the Red Crescent (a counterpart of the Red Cross that works in countries where there is a strong presence of Islam) is assisting, until they can be relocated near their original homes.